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Kintsugi: A Woman: Worthless to Gold
It is 1960 and inside an east Vancouver home, a spirited four-year-old girl is beaten to submission. She endures repeated episodes of what her mother calls corporal punishment. She grows up in an environment of physical, emotional and verbal abuse. At school, she blooms under encouraging teachers and the camaraderie of friends, retreating once she’s home. As the years pass, her confidence erodes, leaving her vulnerable and unprepared to face adulthood by the time she graduates.
Lacking healthy role models and essential life skills, she searches for love and acceptance through a series of failed relationships. But it is only through these interactions, that she’s able to learn to live like she never knew was possible.
Written with candour, while painstakingly sad, there are plenty of heartwarming and quirky moments throughout book. The author takes us along as our heroine feels sad, hurt, lonely, embarrassed, happy, love, disgust and anger.
She is Kintsugi. A metaphor for the woman— who was once considered worthless. Once broken, now a beautifully mended vessel*, stronger and more resilient than ever, for each restored piece is a treasure that completes her.
*Throughout history, women have been considered vessels as they contain, guide, and protect. A woman’s womb is a cradle that gives life.
Lacking healthy role models and essential life skills, she searches for love and acceptance through a series of failed relationships. But it is only through these interactions, that she’s able to learn to live like she never knew was possible.
Written with candour, while painstakingly sad, there are plenty of heartwarming and quirky moments throughout book. The author takes us along as our heroine feels sad, hurt, lonely, embarrassed, happy, love, disgust and anger.
She is Kintsugi. A metaphor for the woman— who was once considered worthless. Once broken, now a beautifully mended vessel*, stronger and more resilient than ever, for each restored piece is a treasure that completes her.
*Throughout history, women have been considered vessels as they contain, guide, and protect. A woman’s womb is a cradle that gives life.
- GenresCanada
Kindle Edition
Published January 28, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 8, 2025
In the 1960s when Annuii is two, she’s left with her grandmother in Hong Kong while her parents immigrate to Canada. She is loved and cherished by Grandmother Jong, but when she’s reunited with her parents in Vancouver two years later, her mother tells her she is worthless because she’s a girl. Her childhood is spent under a disgruntled and abusive mother and a weak father who’s addicted to gambling. Without receiving parental love as a child, Annuii begins a quest, searching for affection elsewhere. This leads to disillusionment, but can Annuii examine her bad choices and start again?
This is a bold memoir of the pitfalls that often face children who immigrate to a new land. This honest portrayal and the conditions many immigrants face was an eye opener to me and I couldn’t put the book down.
This is a bold memoir of the pitfalls that often face children who immigrate to a new land. This honest portrayal and the conditions many immigrants face was an eye opener to me and I couldn’t put the book down.
August 6, 2025
Kintsugi, a work of auto-fiction by first-generation Chinese Canadian Ming Louie Stein, takes its title from the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the cracks with lacquer mixed with gold. It is an apt metaphor for the story of a so-called "worthless" daughter who reclaims her broken self and succeeds in finding new ways not to just live, but to thrive.
The story begins in February 1960: four-year-old Annuii is boarding a plane from Hong Kong to Vancouver, to join her parents, leaving behind her beloved Grandma Jong, with whom she's lived for the past two years. After several chapters, the focus transitions back in time to the life of the grandmother, Mung Yee, and her marriage to Ah Tong. Mung Yee knows her husband is marrying her reluctantly out of obedience to his mother. They have two sons, Bing and Wai, and when the oldest, Bing, is 12, Ah Tong leaves her for the woman he's been in love with all along. Fifteen years later she's at the boarding gate saying goodbye to her granddaughter, Annuii, and in her late fifties she's diagnosed with a terminal disease.
We then get the story of Lan Chau, Annuii's maternal grandmother. Born in 1890, she's one of the last generation of little girls to have her toes broken and bound to create the desired lotus-bud shape. I knew of this procedure--that is, I knew it happened, back in the day--but I'd never read a description of it and Stein's writing brings it horrifyingly and painfully to life. By the time she's 46, Lan Chau has given birth to eight children, three sons and five daughters; her eighth child is Shi-Na, Annuii's mother.
Shi-Na's story begins in Vancouver in 1968. Annuii is 12 and when her mother is in the mood to tell stories, she tells her about her childhood. She tells her daughter she didn't want to marry Annuii's father--she didn't want to marry anybody. At the altar, she felt she was being handed a life sentence in prison. She often tells Annuii and her siblings that if it wasn't for them, she would have left their father.
Shi-Na's first child is a girl--a huge disappointment--"a worthless daughter". This is the theme throughout the book: daughters are worthless. Their only value lies in their ability to bear sons. Shi-Na resents her husband for existing and, when her father dies shortly after Annuii's birth, she resents her daughter as well. She sees the girl as a bad omen, which may partly explain her terrible treatment of her as time goes on. Because, in a world of bad mothers, Shi-Na is one of the worst.
In Chapter 15, when we suddenly return to Annuii's story, the transition is jarring. And it's here that I find my only real criticism of this fascinating--and important--book. Telling each story in the first person is extremely confusing, and I'm saying that as (full disclosure) one of the original editors of Kintsugi. It would have been an easier read to keep Annuii's story in the first person and tell the other stories in third person. Instead we have four separate women all telling their stories directly to the reader, and switfching back and forth to different periods in time. The stories are well-told, and deeply compelling, but the difficulty of continually having to work out who's doing the telling can sometimes detract from the narrative. It occurs to me that including a geneaological chart at the beginning would have helped--perhaps something to think about for a future edition.
Overall, Kintsugi is an astonishing debut. The characters are vividly portrayed and the dialogue, whether recalled from memory or crafted to fit the story, is expertly constructed. In the end, Stein has produced a story of hope, resilience, and transformation. I am truly in awe.
The story begins in February 1960: four-year-old Annuii is boarding a plane from Hong Kong to Vancouver, to join her parents, leaving behind her beloved Grandma Jong, with whom she's lived for the past two years. After several chapters, the focus transitions back in time to the life of the grandmother, Mung Yee, and her marriage to Ah Tong. Mung Yee knows her husband is marrying her reluctantly out of obedience to his mother. They have two sons, Bing and Wai, and when the oldest, Bing, is 12, Ah Tong leaves her for the woman he's been in love with all along. Fifteen years later she's at the boarding gate saying goodbye to her granddaughter, Annuii, and in her late fifties she's diagnosed with a terminal disease.
We then get the story of Lan Chau, Annuii's maternal grandmother. Born in 1890, she's one of the last generation of little girls to have her toes broken and bound to create the desired lotus-bud shape. I knew of this procedure--that is, I knew it happened, back in the day--but I'd never read a description of it and Stein's writing brings it horrifyingly and painfully to life. By the time she's 46, Lan Chau has given birth to eight children, three sons and five daughters; her eighth child is Shi-Na, Annuii's mother.
Shi-Na's story begins in Vancouver in 1968. Annuii is 12 and when her mother is in the mood to tell stories, she tells her about her childhood. She tells her daughter she didn't want to marry Annuii's father--she didn't want to marry anybody. At the altar, she felt she was being handed a life sentence in prison. She often tells Annuii and her siblings that if it wasn't for them, she would have left their father.
Shi-Na's first child is a girl--a huge disappointment--"a worthless daughter". This is the theme throughout the book: daughters are worthless. Their only value lies in their ability to bear sons. Shi-Na resents her husband for existing and, when her father dies shortly after Annuii's birth, she resents her daughter as well. She sees the girl as a bad omen, which may partly explain her terrible treatment of her as time goes on. Because, in a world of bad mothers, Shi-Na is one of the worst.
In Chapter 15, when we suddenly return to Annuii's story, the transition is jarring. And it's here that I find my only real criticism of this fascinating--and important--book. Telling each story in the first person is extremely confusing, and I'm saying that as (full disclosure) one of the original editors of Kintsugi. It would have been an easier read to keep Annuii's story in the first person and tell the other stories in third person. Instead we have four separate women all telling their stories directly to the reader, and switfching back and forth to different periods in time. The stories are well-told, and deeply compelling, but the difficulty of continually having to work out who's doing the telling can sometimes detract from the narrative. It occurs to me that including a geneaological chart at the beginning would have helped--perhaps something to think about for a future edition.
Overall, Kintsugi is an astonishing debut. The characters are vividly portrayed and the dialogue, whether recalled from memory or crafted to fit the story, is expertly constructed. In the end, Stein has produced a story of hope, resilience, and transformation. I am truly in awe.
February 23, 2026
Kintsugi: A Woman: Worthless to Gold by Ming Louie Stein is a candid and emotionally resonant account of surviving childhood abuse and reclaiming identity piece by piece.
Set beginning in 1960 in East Vancouver, the memoir opens with a devastating portrayal of a four-year-old girl subjected to repeated corporal punishment. The early chapters establish a home life marked by physical, emotional, and verbal abuse an environment that steadily erodes the protagonist’s self-worth. In contrast, school becomes a sanctuary, where supportive teachers and friendships allow her spirit to briefly bloom before retreating again behind closed doors.
As she grows into adulthood without healthy models or essential life skills, the search for love and validation leads her through a series of painful relationships. Yet these experiences, though often heartbreaking, become catalysts for awakening. Through them, she begins to see herself differently not as inherently flawed, but as someone shaped by circumstance and capable of repair.
The title’s metaphor is powerful. Like the Japanese art of kintsugi repairing broken pottery with gold the author reframes brokenness as transformation. The cracks are not hidden; they are illuminated. What was once considered “worthless” becomes more valuable because of its restoration.
Balancing sorrow with moments of warmth and even quirkiness, the memoir carries emotional range. It does not rush healing or minimize pain. Instead, it honors the slow process of rebuilding self-worth, redefining identity, and embracing resilience.
Kintsugi: A Woman: Worthless to Gold will resonate strongly with readers drawn to survivor memoirs, women’s empowerment narratives, and stories of emotional healing after childhood trauma. It is both painful and uplifting a testament to strength forged in adversity.
Set beginning in 1960 in East Vancouver, the memoir opens with a devastating portrayal of a four-year-old girl subjected to repeated corporal punishment. The early chapters establish a home life marked by physical, emotional, and verbal abuse an environment that steadily erodes the protagonist’s self-worth. In contrast, school becomes a sanctuary, where supportive teachers and friendships allow her spirit to briefly bloom before retreating again behind closed doors.
As she grows into adulthood without healthy models or essential life skills, the search for love and validation leads her through a series of painful relationships. Yet these experiences, though often heartbreaking, become catalysts for awakening. Through them, she begins to see herself differently not as inherently flawed, but as someone shaped by circumstance and capable of repair.
The title’s metaphor is powerful. Like the Japanese art of kintsugi repairing broken pottery with gold the author reframes brokenness as transformation. The cracks are not hidden; they are illuminated. What was once considered “worthless” becomes more valuable because of its restoration.
Balancing sorrow with moments of warmth and even quirkiness, the memoir carries emotional range. It does not rush healing or minimize pain. Instead, it honors the slow process of rebuilding self-worth, redefining identity, and embracing resilience.
Kintsugi: A Woman: Worthless to Gold will resonate strongly with readers drawn to survivor memoirs, women’s empowerment narratives, and stories of emotional healing after childhood trauma. It is both painful and uplifting a testament to strength forged in adversity.
January 28, 2026
Kintsugi: A Woman: Worthless to Gold is a deeply moving and courageous memoir about survival, healing, and transformation. Beginning in 1960s East Vancouver, the book follows a young girl who grows up in a home marked by physical, emotional, and verbal abuse, pain that slowly chips away at her confidence and sense of self.
Outside her home, school becomes a place of light. Encouraging teachers and friendships allow her to briefly bloom, making the contrast with her home life even more heart breaking. As she grows older, the lack of safety, guidance, and healthy role models leaves her unprepared for adulthood, and she searches for love and acceptance in relationships that repeatedly fail her.
What makes this book so powerful is its honesty. Ming Louie Stein writes with candour, never softening the pain, yet the story is not defined by despair alone. There are moments of warmth, humour, and quiet resilience woven throughout. The reader is invited to feel every emotion alongside the narrator, sadness, anger, shame, love, joy, and ultimately understanding.
The metaphor of kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, is beautifully used. The woman at the center of this story is not “fixed” by hiding her cracks, but by honouring them. Each fracture becomes part of her strength, making her more resilient and complete than before.
Outside her home, school becomes a place of light. Encouraging teachers and friendships allow her to briefly bloom, making the contrast with her home life even more heart breaking. As she grows older, the lack of safety, guidance, and healthy role models leaves her unprepared for adulthood, and she searches for love and acceptance in relationships that repeatedly fail her.
What makes this book so powerful is its honesty. Ming Louie Stein writes with candour, never softening the pain, yet the story is not defined by despair alone. There are moments of warmth, humour, and quiet resilience woven throughout. The reader is invited to feel every emotion alongside the narrator, sadness, anger, shame, love, joy, and ultimately understanding.
The metaphor of kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, is beautifully used. The woman at the center of this story is not “fixed” by hiding her cracks, but by honouring them. Each fracture becomes part of her strength, making her more resilient and complete than before.
May 19, 2025
Kintsugi: A Woman: Worthless to Gold is a powerful and emotional story about a girl growing up in a home filled with fear, not love. Set in 1960s Vancouver, the book follows her journey from a bright, spirited child to a young woman who loses confidence after years of abuse from her mother. While school brings moments of joy and friendship, home is a place of pain, and it slowly breaks her spirit.
As she grows older, she searches for love and acceptance in all the wrong places, not knowing how to care for herself or build healthy relationships. But through each struggle, she slowly learns who she is and what she deserves. It’s not a quick or easy path, but it's one that many readers will find deeply relatable—especially those who’ve had to rebuild themselves after being broken down.
This book is honest, heartbreaking, and at times uplifting. The writing is simple but strong, and the message is clear: even if you’ve been made to feel worthless, you can still become whole again. Just like the art of kintsugi—where broken pottery is repaired with gold—the author shows us that healing doesn’t erase the cracks, but makes them part of a more beautiful story.
As she grows older, she searches for love and acceptance in all the wrong places, not knowing how to care for herself or build healthy relationships. But through each struggle, she slowly learns who she is and what she deserves. It’s not a quick or easy path, but it's one that many readers will find deeply relatable—especially those who’ve had to rebuild themselves after being broken down.
This book is honest, heartbreaking, and at times uplifting. The writing is simple but strong, and the message is clear: even if you’ve been made to feel worthless, you can still become whole again. Just like the art of kintsugi—where broken pottery is repaired with gold—the author shows us that healing doesn’t erase the cracks, but makes them part of a more beautiful story.
November 30, 2025
The abuse in this story takes many forms and is perpetrated by different people, all of whom the protagonist Annuii is close to. Born the 1950s, Annuii comes from an Asian culture where girls are not valued. Physical punishment and verbal abuse were common methods used to teach obeyance, conformity, and respect. Although this is the author’s memoir, she created the character of Annuii to distance herself in order to share raw truths in this heartbreaking story.
While the topic was uncomfortable to read at times, it was also fascinating to learn how she eventually grew to overcome a profound sense of worthlessness. There were mistakes and setbacks in different phases of her life. They were also important lessons that speak to the spirit of a woman determined to create a better life for herself and to find love.
The novel is divided into separate books, some from the viewpoint of her grandmothers and mother, which offer important insights into Annuii’s culture. This is the author’s debut novel, and, although there are a few typos, don’t let them detract you from the importance of this memorable story of survival.
While the topic was uncomfortable to read at times, it was also fascinating to learn how she eventually grew to overcome a profound sense of worthlessness. There were mistakes and setbacks in different phases of her life. They were also important lessons that speak to the spirit of a woman determined to create a better life for herself and to find love.
The novel is divided into separate books, some from the viewpoint of her grandmothers and mother, which offer important insights into Annuii’s culture. This is the author’s debut novel, and, although there are a few typos, don’t let them detract you from the importance of this memorable story of survival.
June 20, 2025
When Annuii (the daughter) rejoins her parents in Canada (at 4yo) after being raised by her grandmother in China, she soon realizes she’s unwanted by her mother. This story follows Annuii, a first generation immigrant, as she grows up in a difficult and abusive family environment, becoming a woman and a mother herself, while struggling to grow out from under the dark aspects of her childhood. Everyone Annuii connects with is clearly their own person with their own story/problems. Annuii becomes entwined with each, even if just for a time, and their story shapes hers and her growth into who she becomes. The author mixes the good and bad together in such a natural way. “Kintsugi: A Woman: Worthless to Gold” is an engaging read with inspiring insights.
June 28, 2025
Kintsugi: A Woman is a deeply moving account of trauma, identity, and the quiet strength it takes to rebuild after being broken. Ming Louie Stein writes with raw honesty and emotional depth, revealing not only her personal story but the generational wounds passed down through silence and tradition.
Told with grace and unflinching candor, this memoir explores the cost of being labeled a "worthless daughter," the complex bonds between mothers and daughters, and the resilience found in naming pain and choosing to heal. Like the art of kintsugi, Stein doesn’t hide her cracks she fills them with gold.
An unforgettable and necessary read for anyone exploring themes of identity, generational trauma, and the quiet power of survival.
Told with grace and unflinching candor, this memoir explores the cost of being labeled a "worthless daughter," the complex bonds between mothers and daughters, and the resilience found in naming pain and choosing to heal. Like the art of kintsugi, Stein doesn’t hide her cracks she fills them with gold.
An unforgettable and necessary read for anyone exploring themes of identity, generational trauma, and the quiet power of survival.
April 20, 2025
This is an enduring and heartwarming story of one woman’s determination to not only survive, but thrive serious abuse. It is also a story of an immigrant family new to Canada and the cultural restrictions that often block access to help. Kudos to Ming Louie Stein for her brave honesty and talented story telling abilities.
A inspirational read for anyone who suffers silently from a childhood scarred by abuse.
A inspirational read for anyone who suffers silently from a childhood scarred by abuse.
September 19, 2025
This book really moved me and I would highly recommend reading it.
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January 22, 2026very good book interesting author suggested for me at Chapters in Metrotown mall in Burnaby
January 2, 2026
This book is an honest telling of a woman’s life. She lived in shame through no fault of her own. It takes the reader on an emotional journey, following her from age four into her sixties. Sent away to reunite with parents she barely knows, her first memory are of abandonment and displacement. She is soon met with an abusive mother and branded a worthless daughter—for being the firstborn in a family that prized sons. The reader accompanies our protagonist through every phase of her life, encountering a full spectrum of emotion: from helplessness to fierce strength, from sorrow to elation, from deep love to searing hatred. The story offers cultural insight through a distinctly feminist lens.
In this autobiographical work of fiction, one woman’s life unfolds in hills and valleys, wide turns and abrupt detours. You may see yourself in her, or be swept away by the deluge of discovery.
In this autobiographical work of fiction, one woman’s life unfolds in hills and valleys, wide turns and abrupt detours. You may see yourself in her, or be swept away by the deluge of discovery.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews